[Skill: Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist, Beginner (0/500)]
The level was a bit low; after the beginner stage, it would progress to the intermediate level.
But regardless, he had finally learned it.
Tang Wen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of satisfaction akin to finally seeing a boss's health bar in a game.
He recalled Zhou Bing's teachings: "The Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist is a technique that requires full-force exertion. Each punch consumes a significant amount of stamina. An average third-tier Martial Practitioner, if they manage to learn it, can barely throw three punches before their stamina is nearly depleted."
"Moreover, these three punches cannot be thrown consecutively. If they fail to severely injure the enemy, the practitioner will be left exhausted and at the mercy of their opponent. A second-tier Martial Practitioner can unleash about seven or eight punches."
"As for a first-tier Martial Practitioner, as long as they don't throw more than ten punches, they can continue fighting."
Tang Wen approached the black Wooden Dummy, his mind conjuring the scene: a fireball shooting forth, crashing into a mountain, and causing a violent explosion.
He threw a punch, and with a loud bang, the Wooden Dummy's head shattered.
"What?"
He was both delighted and puzzled. The Visualization Diagram also depicted the mountain shaking and collapsing, but he hadn't visualized that part in his mind.
Had he only visualized the violent explosion, and yet the Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist still worked?
He recalled the effects of Zhou Bing's punches.
It seemed her punches weren't much stronger than his.
She was a Martial Practitioner, but she wasn't that much stronger than him.
Could he also be a Martial Practitioner, since he could stand in a stance and Enter Stillness?
Tang Wen shook his head, dismissing these thoughts, and turned his attention back to the Visualization Diagram on the wall.
The scene in the diagram—"after the explosion, the mountain shakes violently and collapses"—couldn't be useless.
After some thought, he continued to visualize and sketch the final scene in his mind, following the "comic strip" approach.
After the explosion, the mountain collapsed.
Bang!
Tang Wen sank into his stance and punched the Wooden Dummy in the chest. The headless dummy swayed slightly.
That's it?
It wasn't even as impactful as a random punch I threw earlier.
He shook his hand, flexing his wrist.
Something felt off.
Never mind, he wouldn't dwell on it for now. There were still many Visualization Diagrams for fist techniques he hadn't looked at.
Only two hours remained.
He pulled out a few pieces of cold roasted meat, chewed them hastily, and swallowed.
His gaze fell on the first Visualization Diagram.
[Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist, First Form: Mountain Splitter Cannon]
There were no fancy movements—just a slight bend in the legs, shoulders and elbows sinking, and a solid, forceful punch!
Tang Wen assumed the stance and threw a punch, visualizing the fireball crashing into the mountain and exploding on impact.
Bang!
Tang Wen struck the Wooden Dummy's left arm, causing the wood to splinter and shards to fly.
The panel flashed.
[Skill: Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist, Beginner (0→51/500)]
The experience points increased by so much?
One-tenth of the total.
He raised an eyebrow, visualized the scene again, and threw another punch.
Bang!
Mountain Splitter Cannon.
[Skill: Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist, Beginner (51→52/500)]
No increase? That's strange.
He looked up and counted the Visualization Diagrams on the wall—there were seven in total.
The largest one in the middle was the core Visualization Diagram for the technique's force.
The other six were diagrams for the fist techniques.
"Maybe the experience points only increase significantly after mastering each technique?"
His eyes fell on the second Visualization Diagram.
[Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist, Second Form: Head-on Cannon]
In the Visualization Diagram, an ordinary-looking person took a step forward, leaned into the punch, and threw a straight punch forward while letting out a low roar.
The Head-on Cannon, also known as the Head-on Cannon Roar!
While throwing punches, coordinating with exhaling and shouting can better intimidate the opponent.
There are no strict rules on what to shout.
After all, the Visualization Diagram is just an image and cannot hear sounds.
After a few attempts, Tang Wen stepped back with his left leg, let out a "hey," and continued visualizing the image of a fireball striking a mountain in his mind!
The wooden dummy was once again ravaged, its headless neck shattered into pieces.
[Skill: Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist, Beginner (52→102/500)]
As expected.
Learning a new move significantly boosts experience.
After mastering this move, he continued his training.
[Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist, Third Move: Half-step Blast]
The Visualization Diagram was crisp and clear: stepping forward while raising the elbow for an upward strike.
Bang!
The elbow strike was ferocious, directly punching a bowl-sized hole in the already battered wooden dummy's right chest.
[Skill: Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist, Beginner (107→157/500)]
Experience surged.
Tang Wen's enthusiasm for learning soared.
The immediate feedback from the system after learning a new move felt incredible.
If I had such a learning panel back in high school, I could have gotten into Tsinghua or Peking University.
What repeat students, what top scorers in the college entrance exam, they're all just kids.
[Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist, Fifth Move: Dragon Emerges from Water, Ocean Bottom Tremor]
Jumping from the third move to the fifth move, Tang Wen wasn't surprised.
Zhou Bing had mentioned that the Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist in the camp was incomplete.
Several moves had been lost for a long time.
In the fifth move's Visualization Diagram: a person struck the water with both fists, and suddenly, towering waves rose from the calm sea.
Tang Wen imitated the image, and the mental picture became increasingly fluid.
However, after several attempts, he only managed to shake the already battered wooden dummy, causing it to shed splinters.
It was far from the power this fist technique should possess.
Half an hour passed with no progress.
Tang Wen stopped obsessing and shifted his gaze to the second-to-last Visualization Diagram.
[Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist, Seventh Move: Eight-Armed Divine Fist]
After visualizing for a while, he realized this was a move focused on attack speed, requiring coordinated footwork to strike the opponent from all directions with terrifying speed.
In the Visualization Diagram, the punches were so fast that they created afterimages, as if multiple pairs of fists were striking simultaneously.
Hence, this move was called the Eight-Armed Divine Fist.
After pondering for a while, he realized the key to this move lay in the speed of visualization, which he couldn't achieve yet.
So, he memorized the footwork and moved on to the final move.
[Mountain-Cracking Cannon Fist, Tenth Move: Mountain Blasting Cannon]
In the Visualization Diagram, this was an unremarkable punch, but the mountain collapsed.
Tang Wen gave up on learning it after just one glance.
Because the person in the diagram had a thin layer of flame wrapped around their fist as they punched!
This was not a power that Martial Apprentices, Martial Practitioners, or even Martial Masters could possess.
Unless one was born with a fire ability, it was impossible to grasp the essence of this move before surpassing the Martial Master realm.
Clatter.
Time was up, and the guard opened the door.
"You," he paused for a moment upon seeing the mess, then frowned and said, "Did you smash the wooden dummy with a bucket?"
Tang Wen rubbed his nose.
The guard: "Pay a fine of 50 copper coins."
"Alright."
Dropping a silver granule, Tang Wen walked out the door.
Behind him, the guard muttered, "The ironwood dummy is very sturdy. Isn't this kid here for the first time to learn the fist technique? Even the captains who've mastered the technique can't break the ironwood dummy."
Hearing this, Tang Wen quickened his pace and left the courtyard.
Under the night sky, the starlight illuminated his path home.
Returning to his own courtyard, he hung up the kraft paper and continued practicing his boxing.
The young lady was busy packing up their belongings.
"Let's move tomorrow."
"Huh? Alright, have you told Brother Li about it?"
"Yes, I have. They're coming to help tomorrow as well. I borrowed a carriage from the martial arts school, and it will arrive early tomorrow morning."
"Alright."
Tang Tang had contacted Zhou Bing the day before, informing her that they wanted to move into the inner city.
Essentially, they planned to rent the vacant rooms in Zhou Bing's courtyard.
Despite her usual dislike for being disturbed, Team Zhou agreed without hesitation.
"After all, he's my subordinate. It's only right that I take care of him. Besides, I get along quite well with Tang Tang," Zhou Bing thought to herself as she ate her Meat Bun.
The next day, with the help of Brother Li and Sister-in-law Li, Tang Wen and his sister made three trips with the carriage, moving their belongings from the outer city to Zhou Bing's home—No. 7 Courtyard on 3rd Street in the inner city.
Tang Wen moved into the east room, while Tang Tang settled into the west room.
The most spacious main hall remained Zhou Bing's residence.
As for the rent, Zhou Bing had casually mentioned before, "Ten Meat Buns a day will suffice."
After a busy day, the siblings had just finished tidying up their new home when th
e courtyard gate creaked open.
"Sister Bing, why are you back?"
It was Zhou Bing.
"The match with Black Mountain Camp has been moved up. I've returned to gather the team."
Clang.
The spoon in Tang Tang's hand fell to the ground.
Without stopping to comfort her, Tang Wen asked, "When has it been moved to?"
"In three days."
(End of Chapter)